What level courses are appropriate for my Rising 6th Grader?
Bailey Middle School is focused on strategically and properly placing students into Honors or Standard Plus classes based upon data as well as recommendations about their classroom performance from prior teachers. Ultimately, we want all kids to be challenged, yet successful in all of their classes. The following data points are used to determine if a student meets the criteria needed to thrive in an honors level class.
Data Point #1 & #2: Two Yearsof Standardized Test Scores (4th and 5th Grade EOGs)
Historically speaking, students that have scored in the 85th percentile and above have demonstrated the highest level of success with middle school honors courses. Remember, the percentile score indicates the percentage of grade level peers that your child surpassed when considering grade level standards.
Data Point #3: MAP Assessment
MAP is an adaptive test which is nationally normed to give a very accurate report of where students academically rank in Math and Reading compared to their peers across the country.
Data Point #4:Current Cumulative Class Average
While strong report card grades in elementary school are one indicator of academic success, please bear in mind,as content becomes increasingly more specialized at the secondary level, elementary grades are sometimes a less predictable indicator of success in secondary honors courses.
Data Point #5: Talent Development Certification
Although TD certification identifies a child’s gifted potential, it is not a sole indicator that students will flourish in honors classes. Therefore, TD certification does not guarantee placement in honors level classes.
Data Point #6:Classroom Performance Characteristics/Teacher Recommendation
Secondary honors level students are fairly consistent in meeting the following classroom indicators of performance:
- Work well independently
- Display a strong sense of personal accountability
- Self-starter and willing to persevere through difficult tasks
- Contribute and collaborate effectively
- Able to maintain a brisk pace
- Proactively ask clarifying questions
- Read a variety of texts (fiction and non-fiction) for enjoyment
- Display basic math fluency (multiplication tables, division rules, fraction rules, etc.)
- Strong ability to articulate understanding through written expression
- Submit work on time
What should I expect in an Honors level Math or LA Course?
Honors Math 6:
Students enrolled in the honors level math course in 6th grade will be expected to master all of the standards within the 6th grade Common Core as well as some skills from 7th grade Math. During select units of study, the students will be exposed to extension activities that require them to apply these skills to unique and real-world situations. Many of these tasks will require a heavy amount of written reasoning and mathematical literacy. Students will also be exposed to accelerated curriculum when deemed appropriate based on unit pre-assessment data. This course moves at a more rapid pace than the standard course, providing additional opportunities for deep analysis of skills. Students should have solid mathematical computation skills and fluency. Students should be fluent in simplifying fractions, converting between mixed numbers and improper fractions, standard algorithms in multiplication/division, and adding/subtracting fractions with like and unlike denominators. Students should also have solid number sense including fraction, decimal and percent relationships, including mastery of their position on the number line.
Pre- Math I:
Students enrolled in Pre-Math I will be expected to master all of the standards in 6thgrade, as well as those in 7th grade Honors Math. This blended and compacted curriculum allows students who already have very solid pre-requisite skills to be exposed to two years of curriculum in a one year timeframe. Students in this course are on a track to take Math I in 7th grade and Math II in 8th grade, which are both High School credit courses and count towards graduation. Please note that grades in Math I and Math II become part of the student’s permanent high school transcript, yet do not count towards his/her high school GPA.
Honors Language Arts 6:
Students enrolled in the honors level language arts course in 6th grade will be expected to master all of the skills and concepts within the Common Core. Throughout their studies, students will complete culminating activities for each unit which are heavily grounded in literary analysis, narrative/expository/persuasive writing and personal/peer reflection. All activities and assessments are heavy in written expression. Written work for honors level students should reflect solid foundational writing concepts and ability to elaborate heavily on student understanding, much of which, for these children, will be completed outside the classroom. All LA students will incorporate grammar and vocabulary (Greek and Latin stems) within their studies at an appropriate level. While all LA students will be expected to engage in numerous in-depth studies of outside readings, honors level students should also expect complex fiction and non-fiction texts geared towards higher lexile bands (a lexile is a quantitative score assigned to a text based on its level of complexity.) Accelerated novel study is also an anchor piece for all of our Language Arts classes, as teachers expect students to do more independently and move through the selected novel at a much faster rate.
Science, Social Studies, and Health & PE are all required courses that are scheduled heterogeneously.
**Students are scheduled at random after course selections are entered into the computer system. Teacher requests are not accepted. All teachers teach all levels of students.